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Senior Software Engineer - Trading Desk (C++)

Chicago

DRW is a diversified trading firm with over 3 decades of experience bringing sophisticated technology and exceptional people together to operate in markets around the world. We value autonomy and the ability to quickly pivot to capture opportunities, so we operate using our own capital and trading at our own risk.

Headquartered in Chicago with offices throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Asia, we trade a variety of asset classes including Fixed Income, ETFs, Equities, FX, Commodities and Energy across all major global markets. We have also leveraged our expertise and technology to expand into three non-traditional strategies: real estate, venture capital and cryptoassets.

We operate with respect, curiosity and open minds. The people who thrive here share our belief that it’s not just what we do that matters–it's how we do it. DRW is a place of high expectations, integrity, innovation and a willingness to challenge consensus.

DRW is seeking an outstanding Senior Software Engineer to join one of our trading desks. In this role, you will design, build, and operate high-performance trading systems that directly impact the firm’s profitability. You will be a core member of an algorithmic trading team composed of experienced technologists, quantitative researchers, and traders, working collaboratively to solve challenging technical problems across the full technology stack.

This role spans everything from low-level systems design to production operations, including hardware interaction, software development, DevOps, testing, and release management. We are looking for engineers who enjoy ownership, care deeply about performance and reliability, and want to build systems that matter.

Responsibilities

  • Design, build, and maintain low-latency C++ systems for:
    • Exchange gateways and market data processing (U.S. & Canadian equities)
    • Strategy execution and order management
    • Real-time risk controls and monitoring
    • Trade capture and reporting
  • Optimize for latency, determinism, and throughput across software and hardware boundaries
  • Work closely with traders and quantitative researchers to implement and evolve trading strategies
  • Own production systems, including monitoring, debugging, and incident response for mission-critical infrastructure
  • Drive performance improvements and technical upgrades across the trading platform
  • Evaluate and introduce new technologies where they create clear trading or operational advantages

Requirements

  • 10+ years of experience building high-availability, performance-critical server-side systems (strong preference for C++)
  • 3+ years of experience with modern C++ (C++14 / 17 / 20)
  • Deep experience with multi-threaded programming, concurrency, and low-level performance tuning
  • Strong understanding of hardware–software interaction (CPU architecture, memory, networking)
  • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field
  • Excellent fundamentals in algorithms, data structures, distributed systems, and concurrency
  • Strong communication skills and the ability to work directly with traders

Nice to Have

  • Experience in low-latency trading, market making, or other latency-sensitive systems
  • Experience with North American equities market structure
  • Deep knowledge of networking (TCP, UDP, IPv4, kernel bypass, NICs)
  • Experience working with quantitative researchers or numerical systems
  • Experience working across multiple languages (Python, Java, etc.) in support of research and tooling
  • Experience with non-standard or performance-driven hardware/software architectures

The annual base salary range for this position is $175,000 to $225,000 depending on the candidate’s experience, qualifications, and relevant skill set. The position is also eligible for an annual discretionary bonus. In addition, DRW offers a comprehensive suite of employee benefits including group medical, pharmacy, dental and vision insurance, 401k (with discretionary employer match), short and long-term disability, life and AD&D insurance, health savings accounts, and flexible spending accounts.

For more information about DRW's processing activities and our use of job applicants' data, please view our Privacy Notice at https://drw.com/privacy-notice.

California residents, please review the California Privacy Notice for information about certain legal rights at https://drw.com/california-privacy-notice.

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